“Did Ethan ever mention burying anything?”
Her smile faded.
“No.”
I showed her the tag.
“So he never talked about this?”
She thought for a long moment.
“Only once.”
My pulse quickened.
“When was that?”
“A few weeks before he died.”
“What did he say?”
“He asked whether we’d ever sold replacement locks for old cedar chests.”
“Cedar chests?”
Linda nodded.
“I asked why.”
“And?”
“He smiled and said, ‘I just want to make sure the right person can open it someday.'”
